Efficiency and sustainability from above: how connected drones are enabling Precise Agriculture

The wide adoption of drones in agriculture alone is impossible to ignore. Recent estimates suggest that approximately one in ten farms in Europe currently use drones, making agriculture a surprising frontrunner in innovation for such a traditional industry. This success is largely due to the diverse range of tasks drones can perform and the significant advancements they bring.

The main reason for the intensive use of drones in agriculture is a very simple one: things can be recognised better from a bird’s eye view than from the ground. For instance, drones equipped with cameras can locate fawns hiding in fields, preventing tragic accidents with mowing equipment. Many farmers now rely on this technology for animal welfare, scanning their fields before mowing to detect and save young animals.

Drones provide a groundbreaking advantage in arable farming through their aerial perspective. GPS-controlled drones give farmers the opportunity to get an exact picture of the condition of their plants and soil. Drones are equipped with state-of-the-art cameras that can record a wide range of data in the shortest possible time and transmit it – well connected – in real time.

Farmers can use this data to optimise the use of fertilizers and pesticides, targeting only areas that need them Additionally, drones can detect signs of plant stress caused by nutrient deficiencies or water shortages and identify diseases or weeds early. This enables farmers to address issues promptly while minimising waste by applying resources only where and in the amounts necessary.

Drones are transforming crop protection by offering innovative and eco-friendly solutions. For example, many farms use drones to drop capsules containing the eggs of Trichogramma ichneumon wasps, natural predators of common maize pests. Drones can also apply liquid plant protection products, making them indispensable for reaching inaccessible areas, such as steep vineyards along the Moselle, while significantly saving time.

The prerequisite here again: Connectivity must be right. If this is the case, then efficiency increases sustainably, and the environmental impact is significantly reduced. This includes lowering tractor emissions and minimising soil disruption, which benefits soil health and plant growth.

Gilles Rock, Director of the Geodata department at www.lsc360.lu, and co-founder & president of the Luxembourg Drone Federation, is a Luxembourg drone pioneer. His work focuses among others on the use of drones in agriculture, where he still sees room for improvement in the country.

‘Because agricultural surfaces in Luxembourg are very often structured in small sections, the use of precision agriculture technologies such as drones is rather limited due to efficiency reasons. Within the broader ecosystem of precision agriculture technologies, farmers in Luxembourg primarily rely on simpler, more practical solutions, such as GPS-guided tractors or nitrogen sensors. More advanced technologies, such as those for weed and disease detection, rely heavily on image analysis and require significant computing power. These systems often cannot process data in real time on the tractor itself and instead depend on stable network connectivity to transfer large volumes of data to servers or cloud platforms for analysis. The processed results are then sent back to the farmer, a process that can be challenging to implement reliably in areas with limited connectivity.’

Nevertheless, Gilles Rock also sees potential for drones in Luxembourg, at least in some innovative niches:

‘Even in small areas disease detection and fertilisation with drones can reduce the use of fertiliser and pesticides and thus increase not only the economic efficiency but also the ecological sustainability of the product. In viticulture, this is already being practised here and there.’

The importance of connectivity in Precise Agriculture is also demonstrated by the COMMECT project. This EU research initiative brings together a consortium of 20 partners from 11 countries. Coordinated by LIST, the project will support the specific needs and opportunities of rural areas and provide, among other thing, quality, reliable and secure access for all in rural and remote areas.